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Really Surreal
Really Surreal is an American animated sitcom created by Steve Carell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Surreals, a family consisting of parents Geoff and Lana; their children, Penny and Sean; and their anthropomorphic pet penguin-like bird, Davy. The show is set in the fictional town of Smokeville and parodies American culture and society, as well as surrealism. Really Surreal was designed for mature audiences and features cartoon violence, alcohol and tobacco use, profanity, adult humor, and pop culture references. The family was conceived by Carell in 1997, leading to the creation of Really Surreal. They pitched a seven-minute pilot to Fox in May 2000, and the show was greenlit and began production. The series was originally set to premiere in fall of 2000 with the pilot they showed to Fox earlier that year but the episode was declined to be used by Fox (until it was finally preserved on the season 1 DVD in 2005). The producers of the show then decided to "go ahead" and air another first episode on November 11, 2001. The show ran from November 11, 2001 to May 23, 2010, with TBA episodes of Really Surreal being broadcast. Really Surreal has been nominated for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and 14 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. A Really Surreal Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on November 17, 2006, and grossed over $288 million. Really Surreal is a joint production by Paul Stovojanich Productions and Young Katie Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. Premise Characters Main article: List of Really Surreal characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Surreal family, consisting of father Geoff (voiced by Steve Carell), a hypersensitive, cocky, yet good-hearted, outgoing, independent, and confident worker; Lana (voiced by Jennifer Hale), a pampered, kind, witty, sarcastic, intelligent, and dazzlingly beautiful housewife; Penny (voiced by Jessica DiCicco), their cheerful, happy-go-lucky, hyper, energetic, gentle, sweet, cute, and yet geeky teenage daughter who is a huge fan of Disney animated films like The Black Cauldron (due to the fact she was designed to look like Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron); and Sean (voiced by Bill Hader), their awkward, immature, overemotional, dim-witted, clumsy, talkative, childish, and yet friendly teenage son. Living with the family is their sardonic, foul-mouthed, selfish, and ill-tempered purple and green penguin-like creature Davy (voiced by John Krasinski). , Geoff, Davy, Lana, and Penny. ]] Recurring characters appear alongside the Surreal family. These include Geoff's best friend Stanley Douglas (voiced by Channing Tatum); Geoff's rival Billy Bob Hunter (voiced by Neil Ross) and his wife Liz (voiced by Grey DeLisle); Penny's shy, moody, depressed goth and emo friend Kathy Lipowski (voiced by Grey DeLisle); Sean's best friend Tommy Loser (voiced by Roger Craig Smith); mad scientist Ed McPherson (voiced by Steve Carell); and Mayor Duncan Toritz (voiced by John DiMaggio). Development The development of Really Surreal began in 1997 when Steve Carell announced to make an adult animated series for Fox Broadcasting Company. Most people were given duties for Really Surreal, Craig Kellman retained his duties as art director; Steve Carell retained his lead character design role; Phil Ortiz had his background and prop design role; along with Salene Weatherwax, the latter having a prop design role during the first four seasons. Production Executive producers Carell and Stovojanich serve as executive producers and showrunners during the show's entire run, and also function as creative consultants. Writing Planning for each episode begins with a table meeting of writers, who discuss the plot ideas as a group. The writers are given index cards with plot points that they are required to use as the center of activity in each episode. A single staff writer writes an outline and then produces a script. Once the first draft is finished, the writers and executive producers call in the actors for a table read. Afterwards, the writers collaborate to rewrite the script as a group before sending it to the animation team. Voice actors Main article: List of Really Surreal cast members and List of Really Surreal guest stars Really Surreal has five main cast members. Steve Carell provided the voices of Geoff Surreal, Ed McPherson, Marcus Keaton and many other incidental characters. The character of Geoff was originally created and intended to be performed by Bill Murray, but turned down the role, which he later regretted, and Carell was given the role. Jennifer Hale voiced Lana Surreal and other, more minor, characters. Jessica DiCicco performed the voice of Penny Surreal. Bill Hader voices Sean Surreal, A.C.E., and other various characters. Hader originally auditioned for the role of Geoff Surreal, using the voice he uses to perform Sean, and also auditioned for Sean using a different voice. John Krasinski voiced Davy Surreal. In addition to the main cast, Channing Tatum voiced Stanley Douglas, Neil Ross voiced Billy Bob Hunter, and Grey DeLisle voiced Kathy Lipowski, Liz and several supporting and minor characters. Like Gabriel Garza, The Simpsons,'' Family Guy'','' South Park'' and Futurama, many episodes of Really Surreal feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, entertainers, bands, musicians, and scientists. Many guest-stars voiced supporting characters, although many voiced themselves. Jess Harnell and Fred Tatasciore have also appeared in minor roles, but do not voice any recurring characters. Harnell left the show in 2006, and since then Brian T. Delaney has appeared regularly to voice minor characters. John Cygan voiced the majority of other minor characters. Other current additional voices also include Kari Wahlgren, Roger Craig Smith, Stephen Toblowsky, Maurice LaMarche, Chris Parnell, and Kevin Michael Richardson. Animation Animation for the first two seasons were split between Sunwoo Animation in South Korea, Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, and Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines. Fil-Cartoons also provided ink-and-paint facilities during the second and third seasons. Various other animation studios were contracted beginning in season three. More coming soon! Music The show's soundtrack was composed by Shawn Patterson, while its theme song was composed by multi-instrumentalist Josh Mancell, produced by Devo's singer Mark Mothersbaugh, and was recorded at Mutato Muzika Studios. Episodes Main article: List of Really Surreal episodes Hallmarks Coming soon! Reception and legacy Critical reception Coming soon! Awards Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Really Surreal Broadcast Really Surreal premiered and originally aired in the United States on the Fox network, September 19, 2001 – March 24, 2010. Adult Swim carried the series in the US September 7, 2004 – present, followed by Troll Adult December 12, 2007 – present. Syndicated broadcast of the series in the US began in September 2005. Networks Other media Comic books Coming soon! Film Main article: A Really Surreal Movie Video games Five video games were released based on the show. * Really Surreal ''(PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows)- released, February 17, 2004 * ''Really Surreal 2 ''(PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows) - released, May 10, 2005 * ''Really Surreal Party Craze (Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable) - released, May 2, 2006 and September 5, 2006 (Xbox 360 and PSP) * Really Surreal: Crazy Mayhem (Nintendo DS) - released, November 13, 2007 * Really Surreal Rally (Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows) - released, August 5, 2008 Merchandise Various forms of merchandise based on the show have been released, such as home media releases, action figures, clothing, and more. Category:TV Shows Category:EvanRocks Wiki